by Melissa Smith

Listen to the story!

If slip jig, light jig, hornpipe and treble jig make sense to you, then you know something about Irish dancing. But turning knowledge into skill is another thing.

Back in the '90s, Riverdance revived an awe for Irish dance in many. But the sport is not one you can just jump into. It takes a lot of hard work, motivation and determination. But perhaps most of all, it takes good instruction.

That's where the Irish Dance Academy comes into play. The academy helps and teaches students of all skill levels, from beginner to expert. Dancers of all skill levels aged 5 to 18 attend. The academy utilizes a mentorship style of teaching. Older, more experienced students instruct younger, less knowledgeable ones.

Noreen Wescott is the Irish Dance Academy Director. She grew up in Ireland and began dancing when she was 5. She says she's been pleased by the academy's growth.

The academy has grown even though it's geographically disconnected from the larger Irish dance community in the Lower 48. The academy makes up for this by having a certified dance instructor fly up every six weeks to teach technique and help prepare dancers for competitions. Wescott says her dancers are far from isolated.

Their success can be measured in numbers--academy enrollment has almost tripled and local dancers are collecting numerous titles in national and world competitions. Since the academy opened in 1997, they've grown from 40 to 115 dancers. And many of the new dancers are young, predicting a bright future for the academy.

The main kind of event dancers compete in is a feis, which is the name for an Irish Dance competition. 

Competitors are separated by their gender, age and skill level. A dancer must place first, second or third in their feis level to progress. The ultimate challenge for competitive dancers is to dance in The Irish Dancing American National Championships and the World Championships.

This is where the academy has had its other success. Last year three dancers went to Nationals and one to Worlds. This year, those stats have increased to five heading for Nationals and three to Worlds.

Owen Barrington, a high school senior who's been dancing since he was 12, competed at Nationals and Worlds last year. He placed second in the national competition for his age group and fifteenth in the worlds. He says nationals is intense but worth it.

Barrington will be attending both competitions again this year. He says Irish dance taught him to be more social. Through competitions he has made friends in Ireland, Australia, Canada and England. 

Barrington said his favorite thing about dancing is performing. He has some big plans for his dancing future.

"I really would like to join a show someday, like maybe Riverdance or Lord of the Dance," Barrington said, "because that would be the funnest to travel around the world and just dance and get paid for it. That's as good as it gets for me."

Emily Bliss is a colleague of Barrington's and is also going to the Irish Dancing World Championships. She has been to Western Regionals twice, placing second and seventh in individual competition and first in team dancing. Although she admits the competitions are hectic, Bliss said she loves the feeling of being on stage.